Chapter 196: CH. 196 | Light of Hope From the North
Li Qingxue turned to look at the Core Formation cultivator standing beside her.
He was the only one who’d actually gotten a clear view of what had happened here before the tower fell.
But he admitted he couldn’t make out the details, the crimson red wall had blocked most of his view, limiting what he could see.
Li Qingxue nodded. That was a reasonable enough explanation, considering his cultivation base hadn’t even reached Nascent Soul yet.
Even so, she doubted a Nascent Soul cultivator could have witnessed this battle clearly either.
Destruction on this scale could only come from a fight at a much higher level, Soul Formation at minimum.
"At least we’ve got solid information now on the mysterious cultivator’s cultivation base. We can say for certain, he’s at Soul Formation."
Li Qingxue turned to face the man, "Next, he’s going to hit another hall in the south. The Yuanmo Sect will end up focused on defending that place instead of continuing their siege on the Lingxian Sect."
"Seems like we’ve got a real opportunity to strike back, Sect Leader Li."
"That’s right."
She pulled out her summoning token and relayed everything she’d found to Wu Yue, An Xiao, and Han Xin.
The three of them listened closely to her explanation, and believed her without hesitation, certain Li Qingxue wasn’t the type to lie.
"We should head back to the sect and recover our strength. We need to use this window to strike back at them," Li Qingxue said.
"Agreed. We can’t keep relying on this mysterious cultivator forever. We need to make our own move," Han Xin added.
"Alright."
"Let’s regroup back at the Lingxian Sect and discuss this with the other Nascent Soul masters."
They flew back toward the Lingxian Sect, leaving their scouting position behind.
They still had no idea who the mysterious cultivator was, but they now knew for certain his cultivation base was Soul Formation, Mid Soul Formation at the very least.
That was valuable intel. If this mysterious cultivator really was allied with the Qin Sect Alliance and opposed to the Yuanmo Sect, then the Alliance officially had three Soul Formation cultivators on its side.
Even so, they still needed to meet him face to face to find out who he actually was and what his reasons were.
Elsewhere, Lin Tian arrived at a forest far to the north of the black lake. He found a cave near a nearby river and decided to recover there.
Since there wasn’t much spiritual energy available in that area, Lin Tian went back to drawing on the primordial energy from the Golden Jade Palace instead.
It was simply more efficient and effective, capable of restoring his condition far more quickly.
Two of the five demon towers are already destroyed. If I manage to take down one more, their strength should drop off dramatically.
Maybe it’s time I headed back to the Lingxian Sect?
Lin Tian drew in a long breath, then let it out slowly. He let himself settle, clearing his mind. He needed to focus entirely on cultivating and recovering.
Either way, time wasn’t on his side. He couldn’t afford to let the remaining three demon towers keep operating. He needed to wipe the Yuanmo Sect off the land of Qin as fast as possible.
***
Two days later.
Lin Tian opened his eyes and released a powerful burst of spiritual energy into the surrounding area. His condition had fully recovered, even better than before.
He could feel that the amount of primordial qi needed to break through to Mid Soul Formation was substantial. Because of that, he decided not to rush the breakthrough.
Instead, he chose to focus on strengthening his cultivation foundation, his dao will, the resolve of his dao heart, and deepening his understanding of dao concepts overall.
When the time is right, I’ll attempt the breakthrough to Mid Soul Formation, and that should give my overall strength a significant boost.
He rose from his cross legged position and stepped out of the cave, leaving it behind. He could clearly see the forest’s vegetation had begun recovering, and the forest animals were starting to return.
The corrupting effects of demonic energy had clearly been devastating for the environment, throwing everything around it out of balance.
But now that the source of that demonic energy was gone, the vegetation had returned to normal and animals were repopulating the forest again.
Lin Tian looked up at the sky. The black clouds that had once blanketed it were starting to fade and clear, especially in areas without a demon tower nearby.
Demonic energy brought nothing good to the world, yet plenty of cultivators still chased that path anyway, drawn in by how quickly it granted overwhelming power.
Since the war’s still ongoing, I have no idea what’s happened while I’ve been recovering.
I should head to the nearest city and find out what I’ve missed.
He rose into the air and shot off fast, cutting through the clouds and tearing across the sky, leaving the forest and black lake behind.
In a kingdom this chaotic, not many cities had managed to survive. Any that had were likely still standing only because they mattered to the Yuanmo Sect, and were now under their control.
Up ahead, he spotted a city blanketed in cold snow. Lin Tian landed and changed his appearance, masking his cultivation base as well.
He arrived at a city to the west, one people called Huangtian City. It was one of the three Imperial Cities of Qin, the largest city in the entire kingdom.
It made sense the Yuanmo Sect wanted it, and they’d succeeded in seizing control of it. There was a clear reason behind why they’d gone after it specifically.
Lin Tian’s steps came to a stop. A Yuanmo Sect cultivator demanded 100 low grade spirit stones from him just to let him into the city.
Lin Tian nodded and handed them over, not bothering to argue or resist, since his only real goal was gathering information.
They let him through without suspicion. Once he passed through the gate’s corridor, his eyes took in the state of Huangtian City’s main street clearly.
Piles of snow covered the road, and many residents wandered listlessly, their faces drawn and exhausted.
Some carried food wrapped in cloth, others carried nothing at all, unable to afford the inflated prices.
If this war keeps dragging on, these mortals are going to starve to death.
Lin Tian turned and stepped into a small tavern, noticing it had few customers. Of those who did come in, hardly any ordered food or drink.
"Sorry, sir, we only have drinks left."
"That’s fine, just bring it," Lin Tian replied.
The man came over and handed Lin Tian a clay jug along with a ceramic bottle. Lin Tian poured the wine into a cup and took a sip.
His high cultivation base meant he wasn’t easily affected by alcohol. In fact, the drink barely had any effect on him at all.
"Has anything been happening in the cultivation world lately?" Lin Tian asked.
"I’m sorry, sir. We’re not allowed to talk about that. They might be listening."
"But you know something?" Lin Tian pressed.
"I’m a merchant. Rumors are practically my livelihood."
"That’s good enough for me."
Lin Tian set his cup down on the table, transforming the space around them into a pocket dimension that left only the two of them inside it.
To anyone else watching, the man appeared to just be standing there in a daze, absently wiping his cup.
But in reality, his soul’s awareness had been pulled into that void dimension.
"This... where am I?"
"Tell me everything you know, and I’ll let you go."
"Y-Yes, Master Immortal!"